Two more sentenced in beating robbery

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2014 at 10:39 AMJul 29, 2014 at 10:39 AM

By don Reiddwreid@aol.comCOLDWATER — Michael Huddleson will join co-defendant Robert Wilson, Jr. in prison for the beating and robbery of drinking buddy Damian Rameriez on Feb. 1.Branch County Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady sentenced Huddleson, 26, to 71 months to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the unarmed robbery in which he stole $300 from Rameriez.Branch County Prosecutor Ralph Kimble called robbery "a brutal beat down" which left Rameriez unconscious and bleeding.Defense attorney Bill Renner said it "was just another bar fight from Lefty’s Lounge."Huddleson apologized to his mother for getting drunk after five years sober. "I should never gone to the bar or left," Huddleson said.After drinking with Rameriez, who flashed a roll of cash, the two lured him outside to Snyder’s Laundromat on W. Pearl St. He was found by police beaten with a chair around his head, bloodied and unconscious.Parolee Huddleson was found nearby, spattered with blood. He claimed he had defended himself after Rameriez attacked him. He then identified Wilson as another man with him on a video surveillance at Lefty’s Lounge."This was a brutal, unnecessary crime," O'Grady said. "The fact is you are going to prison over $300. This is unacceptable."Huddleson has been in jail or prison most of his adult life. This newest charge is his seventh felony conviction.Wilson is serving 23 months to five years in prison for the robbery. Robert Lee Smith, 20, and Dalton Lipman, 21, were arrested a week later. Lipman said he and Smith were "extra muscle" and acted as lookouts.Lipman pleaded guilty to attempted robbery. Judge O’Grady sentenced him to three years probation after he served six months in jail, but he must also complete the Twin County Probation Center program as a first adult offender.